Mystery Intergalactic Radio Bursts Detected

Mystery Intergalactic Radio Bursts Detected

Astronomers were on a celestial fishing expedition for pulsing neutron stars and other radio bursts when they found something unexpected in archived sky sweeps conducted by the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia.

The powerful signal, which lasted for just milliseconds, could have been a fluke, but then the team found three more equally energetic transient flashes all far removed from the galactic plane and coming from different points in the sky.

Analysis later indicated that, unlike most cosmic radio signals that originate in the Milky Way or a nearby neighbor galaxy, these four seem to have come from beyond.

Whatever triggered the bursts has come and gone. The signals, detected between February 2011 and January 2012, were one-time events so little follow-up work can be done.

What is known is that in just a few milliseconds, each of the signals released about as much energy as the sun emits in 300,000 years.

The article asked….Could it have been a fluke ??? as opposed to what ? a signal sent on purpose !…Oh Pleeeease….It was a millisecond radio signal…an outburst of energy…..chaotic events happen often in galaxies – there’s no message in that…..!!
It is more likely to be a pulsar or magnetar or something – not mysterious as the sensationalising headlines claims..

The article asked….Could it have been a fluke ??? as opposed to what ? a signal sent on purpose !…Oh Pleeeease….It was a millisecond radio signal…an outburst of energy…..chaotic events happen often in galaxies – there’s no message in that…..!!
It is more likely to be a pulsar or magnetar…

That wasn’t the way I interpreted the article. I thought by “could it be a fluke” they just meant it could have been some error in the equipment, a power surge or something that resulted in an incorrect reading.

Your probably right – they had to check that more signals were detected and not just one …..But they still could leave out the word Mysterious….how about unknown for now….but scientifically knowable….not hocus pocus – magic and mystery…..

“The article asked….Could it have been a fluke ??? as opposed to what ? a signal sent on purpose !…Oh Pleeeease….It was a millisecond radio signal…an outburst of energy…..chaotic events happen often in galaxies – there’s no message in that…..!!
It is more likely to be a pulsar or magnetar…” – Light Wave.

Firstly these events happened “FAR REMOVED FROM THE GALACTIC PLANE”, this means outside of the chaotic events in galaxies you describe. Secondly, pulsars and magnetars are continuously observable once you know where to look. These energy bursts were one time events, and as signposts apparently nothing can now be seen in those locations. I’m not saying they were space-alien signals, just that they seem unexplained by current theory.